Look at what happened to my acetelyne bottle!

Well, I got my swapped out here in Tulsa on Friday in expectation of using them this weekend on the rear end swap project I had planned for my '29 Dubble A truck.

I had hooked up my regulators and gauges, hoses, and got my stuff all ready, then used the rosebud to heat the frame around a few stubborn rivets to help disloge them with the air chisel. Used the hoses and setup with absolutely no problems for about 10-15 minutes, then shut it all down until I would need it again.

About an hour or so later, I changed to the cutting head as I've done so many times before, and started to cut a stubborn bolt off that held the rear bumper brackets in place. Cut about halfway through and the torch flamed out and I couldn't get any acetelyne to flow. Nothing, nada, zilch. I cleaned the tip, thinking that might be the problem - still nada. Checked the valve and the regulators and everything seemed to be in line. I closed the tank valve then reopened it, then adjusted the smaller valves to start the acetelyne flow than BOOOM! I had a HUGE ball of flames about 3 feet in diameter rising up about 4 feet high off the top of my bottles - which are about 30" tall.

Talk about ****ting pink *****ies here!

Anyway, I've got the flaming tank sitting in the middle of my garage and alls I could think about is if it was going to explode and I needed to get it the **** out of my garage NOW! I wound up running over and grabbing the handle to the dolly I use for a bottle cart and drug it at a run down my driveway to the street where it proceeded to burn for over 2 1/2 hours. Burnt up my gauges, hoses, and cart, but thankfully nothing else of major value. I'm suprised as hell that the fire department wasn't called. Gives me great confidence in my neighbors and their give a **** meteres.

After about 45 minutes the flames had died down enough so that I was able to pull my oxygen bottle away and turn it off, as I didn't want it to feed the fire.

Anyway, my neighbor comes over today and instucts me about a bit of forensic type information that the flame probably followed the weak pressured trail of acetelyne up the hose and then down into the tank, then triggering a safety check valve - the very valve that was shooting flames for over 2 1/2 hours.

I planning to head to the bottle company tomorrow and see what they/we can do about this. Has anyone ever seen or heard about something like this?

I'll tell ya this much, it sure scared the hell out of me! I'll bet I could still pick up pennies with my *** cheeks!

The first picture is about 45 minutes into the fire, and the second is about 2 hours into it.

 

holy **** man...i think i might have pissed myself if that happened. that's CRAZY. grew up using an acetylene torch and never saw anything like that...damn man

 

Jeezy Chreezy, eggs and beezy. Glad you're alive, bubba. Coulda turned out A LOT worse.....

 

That is plain scary,I believe that ****tin your pants is totally acceptable in that situation.

 

damn dude?!! thats scary, on the bright side your ok, and it didnt burn down the place

 

hey there is a pressure relief plug than opens with temperature n when faulty just anytime=had that happen to me nothing ya can do except throw it into tank of water to put out flame=ANYWAY YA GONNA LOSE THE ACETYLENE WHEN IT HAPPENS=get the plug replaced n have em check it out before refilling it=better yet get different tank but let em know it did it to ya
hope this helps
Ken

 

Would've $h!t my pants. At least you're OK.

 

My shop teacher always said turn off the gas before you turn off the torch. It can burn back if everything isnt in good condition.

You must of had a leak somewhere or?

Glad it didnt get worse.

 

Man that is some scary stuff with your oxygen bottle right there too! Rodshop

 

I would have called the fire dept myself. I can't beleive it didn't explode. Weird.

Glad your OK

 

It didn't explode because the acetylene tank is only full of acetylene!!

Unless it can somehow get oxygen into the acetylene tank it will not explode because there is no oxygen to complete the combustion.

Also, the tank is pressurized, the fire would have to burn back against whatever pressure is pushing the acetylene out of the tank.

Fire needs 3 things.. Fuel, Air (oxygen) and Heat. Take away any one of those things and you don't have fire anymore.

BTW, keep a fire extinguisher or running garden hose around..

PS, If this happened to me you would probably need rubber boots to run away because you'd be slipping in my ****!

Shawn

 

I was keeping the kids and wife back. It was a tank that was completely full, and had just really been unloaded from my truck a few hours prior. I'd picked it up around 11am, and was using it around 6 when this happened.

I was doing nothing different than I normally do when using this setup. My way of thinking is that they owe me a set of gauges, regulators, hoses, goggles, and bottles, but we'll see if they pony up. If they don't, I'm wondering if there's legal aspects of this that can be used. I just want to be able to use my stuff, and not have to pay to replace something that wasn't my fault. I'd be happy with that since nothing seriously wrong happened - other than their bottles GOING BOOM!

 

Always use check valves on your regulators.

Always turn off your gas.

Back out the adjusting screw on your regulators.

 

I always turn off the acetelyne at the torch first! the oxy blows out the flame!

 

jeeeeeeez!

 

I doubt they would do anything for you, good luck to you on it though.

It may not even be "their" service. The shop I work for does bottle filling but all we can do is O2, Argon/CO2 and straight CO2. Acetylene is done somewhere far away and brought to us, then we exchange the bottles.

From what I understand the regulatory people are a bit sticky about who is allowed to fill acetylene bottles and they prefer them to be away from civilization if at all possible.

The bottle service may just be a product they are selling and are not directly involved. Kinda like buying a tool. The store didn't actually make it but they do sell it.

If they can't help you out they should at least be able to give you the contact info for the bottle fillers.

Shawn

 

Jeez ol' Pete, I prolly woulda knocked the damn thing over. Causing it to knock the valve off the bottle & we would've had an early 4th o' July. Glad you're not messed up, or blowed up, man. Like the Mega-Low Mart.

 

You better go play the lotto tonight!

 

They are a company here in Tulsa that fills their own bottles at a different location - about 2 miles away - and distributes them as well. I'll see what happens. Either way, I'm out my bottles and equipment.

 

Dude your lucky! it woulda completely wiped out your house! Ive seen acetelene in trash bags blow up and holy ****...........Huge explosion

 

Hopefully, they'll realize that they're lucky all you expect is a new welding outfit...and just give-in. A lot of people would be on the phone to their lawyer before the fire was even out!

 

This whole thing could have been avoided by installing anti burn back check valves on the end of the cutting torch. They are at any welding supply store and are cheap! They install between the hoses and the torch. All your torches should have them permanently attached to them.

 

You have got balls pushing that around on fire,getting that other tank away, and waiting two and half hrs. for it to burn out ?
Ive heard stories about tanks exploding one going through a block wall, dont know how true they were after seeing this???

 

You need some flashback arrestors. They let the gases flow one way , and when it it flashback up the hose they kill the fire. Lifesavers for sure.

 

Man, that's some scary stuff there......glad you and your family made it out of it ok...

I think I read your message right- you just unloaded it a few hours before this?

Did you haul it upright or laying flat?

As was mentioned, the flashbacks might have helped (unless you already had them and one failed)....

Let us know what they say, I don't want this to happen to me!

 

Where was your fire extinguisher?

 

Did you feel or hear anything unusual? like a vibration or a buzzing? I took a welding course a few years ago and the instructor induced that condition so we would know what to do if the flame backed up the line like that. We had the check valves in all our torch set-ups.

P.S. Before I took the course, I could have died in numerous ways and numerous times using O/A by being taught bad habits by buddies.

 

I don't think a fire extinguisher would have put that out. If it had, I would have had that entire bottle of acetelyne out there emptying in gas form into the neighborhood. The check or safety valve that blew had no way to cut the flow off from it.

I had transported it laying down, as until after this had all happened did I hear that you're not supposed (?!?) to do that. I've been using a torch since I was 12 (22 years) and have always seen them transported this way - except on the delivery truck and on a dedicated welding rig - where storage for maximum numbers and on the rigs where they could be properly tied down and left hooked up.

 

I'd sure as hell rather have the gas emptying into the neighborhood that have the thing burning in my driveway, worried that it was going to explode for 2 and a half hours.

Scarry **** man...but seriously, it never occured to you to either put the flames out yourself, or call the firedepartment?

-Brad

 

Zman beat me to it. I've got fire extinguisers at both ends of my shop (big ones) and about 5 of them at stratigic locations around the shop. there is also one big mother, about 3 ft. tall that I drag over to the welding/cutting location if it's going to be over a quick cut and quench job. I've had friends and others have HUGE losses due to not being able to get a fire out quickly. Also, when you're done cutting /grinding always wait at least 1/2 hour before leaving the shop for the night and double check the location you were cutting at to make sure no hot sparks or metal are smoltering under something that is combustible.

Frank